If there was ever any doubt that race and perception are intimately linked, the bizarre arrest of Harvard superstar Henry Louis Gates Jr. — which hit the news this past Monday — should dispel it once and for all. Gates, of course, was arrested last Thursday, after forcing open the non-functioning front door of his Cambridge home, thus inviting a call to police from a concerned bystander. According to the police report, when officers arrived, Gates was uncooperative and combative, refusing to provide identification when it was first requested and telling an officer who'd asked to speak with him outside: "Ya, I'll speak with your mama outside!"

But Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, who's been representing Gates in the wake of the incident, claims this picture is greatly distorted. Gates promptly provided both his driver's license and Harvard ID to a police officer, Ogletree said in a statement to The Root, the Washington Post–owned, African-American-focused Web site of which Gates is editor in chief. Gates was handcuffed and arrested, Ogletree contends, after twice asking — unsuccessfully — for an officer's name and badge number.

We may never know which version is closer to the truth (though my money's on Gates). As of this writing, the city of Cambridge and the Cambridge PD have suggested that prosecutors drop the case, and the Middlesex District Attorney's office has done exactly that.

What is clear, however, is that this is precisely the sort of story in which the Bay State Banner's voice and perspective could be invaluable.

The Banner, as local media-watchers know, is the African-American weekly that recently suspended publication, citing a catastrophic decline in advertising revenues. Coincidentally, Ogletree was also spearheading efforts to get the Banner publishing again. Now, however, it seems the paper will be restored primarily thanks to a $200,000 loan from the City of Boston made at the suggestion of Boston Mayor Tom Menino. (Neither Ogletree nor Melvin B. Miller, the Banner's publisher, responded to requests for comment by press time.)

True, the Banner's bailout poses a clear journalistic conflict. If the paper makes a comeback, it'll have to convince readers that it's neither favoring Menino thanks to his assistance nor hammering him to prove its independence. This won't be an easy task. But the Gates affair suggests it's a challenge worth embracing.

Consider the way Boston's two dailies covered the story in question. The Globe provided a solid, balanced account, giving ample space to both law enforcement's and Gates's versions. But the story in question was written by an Asian-American — and published by a paper where African-American employees are few and far between. The Herald, meanwhile, relied almost exclusively on law enforcement's account — neither Gates nor his attorney would talk to the tabloid — and highlighted the demagogic Al Sharpton's plans to intercede on Gates's behalf, thereby drawing attention away from Gates's possible mistreatment. (Check out the paper's online reader comments if you're unconvinced.)

What's needed, obviously, is a publication that can size up the Gates controversy from an explicitly African-American point of view — by evocatively explaining what it might be like to be targeted by police for something as innocuous as entering your own home, say, or by connecting Gates's arrest to Cornel West's 2002 decampment for Princeton. The Globe and others can broach these subjects too, of course — but not with the pathos of a black-owned, black-operated outfit like the Banner.

Gates's legal woes may be over, but the broader conversation occasioned by his arrest is almost certainly just beginning. If Miller hurries up, the resurrected Banner could be part of the conversation. Boston would benefit if it was.

Who's next? If Melvin B. Miller has his way, last week's shutdown of the Bay State Banner — the African-American-focused weekly paper Miller ran as editor and publisher for nearly half a century — won't be the end.

Is ‘post-racial’ possible? Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Solstice Greetings! Hopefully I have acknowledged all the winter holidays in a respectful manner without leaving anyone out, but since there must be someone I've missed, I'll toss in "Happy Holidays!"

An enchanting South Pacific at PPAC History is written by the winners, and there are few good-guy winners in the history of warfare more hallowed and haloed than the American victors of World War II, saviors of Western civilization.

The new black When the Theater District's Cure Lounge ejected a group of black Harvard and Yale alums and grad students last month, many saw it as the latest confirmation of Boston's racist core.

Terror and the MBTA: You don’t look harmless Racial profiling meets war on terror: The highest federal court in New England has said it’s okay for government officials single out dark-skinned people for searches, as long as they can concoct some cover rationale, ginned up with vague allusions to terrorism.

Nixon potential Regular readers of my column (all three of them) won't be surprised that my New Year's wish is for Sanford High, my alma mater, to finally put aside the racist mascot name of "redskins."

Fusing porn with high art Porn in the form of prose and poems, along with sexy and graphic illustrations and photos, fill the pages of Salacious , a new magazine dedicated to erotic art and literature, the likes of which you may never have seen — at least not compiled in one place.

BULLY FOR BU! | March 12, 2010 After six years at the Phoenix , I recently got my first pre-emptive libel threat. It came, most unexpectedly, from an investigative reporter. And beyond the fact that this struck me as a blatant attempt at intimidation, it demonstrated how tricky journalism's new, collaboration-driven future could be.

STOP THE QUINN-SANITY! | March 03, 2010 The year is still young, but when the time comes to look back at 2010's media lowlights, the embarrassing demise of Sally Quinn's Washington Post column, "The Party," will almost certainly rank near the top of the list.

RIGHT CLICK | February 19, 2010 Back in February 2007, a few months after a political neophyte named Deval Patrick cruised to victory in the Massachusetts governor's race with help from a political blog named Blue Mass Group (BMG) — which whipped up pro-Patrick sentiment while aggressively rebutting the governor-to-be's critics — I sized up a recent conservative entry in the local blogosphere.

RANSOM NOTES | February 12, 2010 While reporting from Afghanistan two years ago, David Rohde became, for the second time in his career, an unwilling participant rather than an observer. On October 29, 1995, Rohde had been arrested by Bosnian Serbs. And then in November 2008, Rohde and two Afghan colleagues were en route to an interview with a Taliban commander when they were kidnapped.

POOR RECEPTION | February 08, 2010 The right loves to rant against the "liberal-media elite," but there's one key media sector where the conservative id reigns supreme: talk radio.